Some Helpful Tips I Learned While Traveling

So here’s some useful things I learned while traveling. I haven’t been on a plane in… 10 years and that was just a domestic flight to Florida. The last international flight I had been on was over 15 years ago. A lot of laws have changed since then- and this was the first time I’ve flown as a grown up by myself- not by myself really but with my boyfriend. He had never been on a plane… so we really didn’t know anything at all.

One thing I wished I did was look at a map of the airports and figure out where things go. We were kind of lost in the Ottawa airport for a while. The layout to every airport is different and once we figured out where we were- things were a little bit better. I’d also say to look for your airlines because they can help you out with any questions you have. If you’re on a connecting flight- I’d just say to ask right when you get off the plane because that could have saved us a bit of time.

Also I’d say get your boarding pass printed. We were having trouble getting one of our boarding passes for one of our flights home and someone asked if we needed our boarding pass and I said that we had it. I should have gotten it printed because there was a boarding pass we didn’t have and I think we could have gotten it! But anyway we got it and we were fine.

Keep your electronics and liquids in a place that’s easy to get to because you need to take them out for the tsa. Also all your liquids need to be the right tsa size and fit in a 1 qt clear bag. I brought some extras with us too just in case one broke or something.

Also go through tsa as soon as you can cause after that anything you buy you can bring with you on the plane. So- that’s when you want to get food and drinks which are useful because if there’s turbulence they might not get you food or snacks… and they may only have fava beans… which aren’t bad but they’re a little dry.

And some packing things- one of the most useful things I bought was a case for jewelry. I packed a little bit of jewelry- but I was planning on buying more jewelry and this fit a lot more. I also put all the pins and buttons my boyfriend and I got, I put stickers in there too and some little things I bought on the trip. The little house I bought in lunenberg was pretty perfect right in there. You could probably also put sunglasses or glasses in there.

I also got packing cubes which made it pretty easy to pack everything in and sort out my dirty laundry.

We only packed carry on bags- which was pretty easy for connecting flights. They did check our bags while we were boarding- which was fine. They make backpacks that fit the personal item requirements but can fit a lot in them- I bought one from Amazon.

I would also recommend putting a keychain or something easy to spot on your items so that you can spot it right away after the tsa checkpoint. I had a Guadatama keychain on mine- which was good.

And I’d recommend buying thrift store toys and putting them in the window of your hotel just for decoration lol.

Oh and if you’re planning on buying postcards or art prints- I’d bring something that can protect that too. I had a notebook that had a clear zip closure and it fit the cards my boyfriend and I got perfectly.

I think that was everything… I hope you guys find this a little useful at least!

Bye!

-Shannon